lonster1
03-02-2012, 04:24 PM
By Deborah Netburn
March 2, 2012, 6:00 a.m.
To the dismay of many privacy advocates, Google implemented some changes to its privacy policy on Thursday that will allow the world’s largest Internet company to collect information about its users across all its products, services and websites and store it in one place.
The idea, Google says, is to create a comprehensive portrait of its users so it can offer more personalized services. But some people are uncomfortable with the idea of any one company compiling such a complete portrait of who they talk with, what they watch and where they go.
On Wednesday we provided some tips on how to keep Google from painting too accurate a portrait of your online habits, but many of our readers had additional questions.
We selected some of the most interesting ones and sent them to Google to see if the company would answer them for us. And what do you know -- it did.
If you are an Android user, have friends on Gmail or are worried you didn't clear your search history in time, read on.
1. I don't use Gmail myself, but if I send email to people who do have Gmail accounts, does Google collect information about me (i.e., my email address and info collected from the content of my emails)?
"If you send a message to a friend who uses Gmail, we store that message in our systems so they can access it. If your friend replies to your message, we might add your email address and name (if your email header includes it) to your friend’s contacts list. We do this if your friend’s 'create contacts for auto-complete' setting is enabled."
2. My Android phone requires that I log into my Google Account to use it. Are there any (simple) steps I can take to limit the amount of information Google collects about me while I use my phone?
"Actually, an Android phone does not require a Google Account. Users can choose to log into an Android phone without a Google Account and still use the phone to place phone calls, send text messages, browse the web and use Google applications that don’t require you to sign in -- like Google Maps. Some Google applications such as Android Market and Gmail do require users to be signed into a Google Account."
3. There was lots of talk about clearing search history before the new privacy changes took place. Is it still possible to clear search history? Will it have the same effect as before?
"Absolutely. Web History, which is a record of your signed-in searches, works the same way today as it did yesterday. You can edit, delete and turn off your Web History if you don’t want your searches to be associated with your Google Account."
4. When will I start to notice the results of the policy changes?
"In the coming weeks. We don’t have any specific features to announce right now, but over time we’ll be able to improve our products in ways that help our users get the most from the web."
March 2, 2012, 6:00 a.m.
To the dismay of many privacy advocates, Google implemented some changes to its privacy policy on Thursday that will allow the world’s largest Internet company to collect information about its users across all its products, services and websites and store it in one place.
The idea, Google says, is to create a comprehensive portrait of its users so it can offer more personalized services. But some people are uncomfortable with the idea of any one company compiling such a complete portrait of who they talk with, what they watch and where they go.
On Wednesday we provided some tips on how to keep Google from painting too accurate a portrait of your online habits, but many of our readers had additional questions.
We selected some of the most interesting ones and sent them to Google to see if the company would answer them for us. And what do you know -- it did.
If you are an Android user, have friends on Gmail or are worried you didn't clear your search history in time, read on.
1. I don't use Gmail myself, but if I send email to people who do have Gmail accounts, does Google collect information about me (i.e., my email address and info collected from the content of my emails)?
"If you send a message to a friend who uses Gmail, we store that message in our systems so they can access it. If your friend replies to your message, we might add your email address and name (if your email header includes it) to your friend’s contacts list. We do this if your friend’s 'create contacts for auto-complete' setting is enabled."
2. My Android phone requires that I log into my Google Account to use it. Are there any (simple) steps I can take to limit the amount of information Google collects about me while I use my phone?
"Actually, an Android phone does not require a Google Account. Users can choose to log into an Android phone without a Google Account and still use the phone to place phone calls, send text messages, browse the web and use Google applications that don’t require you to sign in -- like Google Maps. Some Google applications such as Android Market and Gmail do require users to be signed into a Google Account."
3. There was lots of talk about clearing search history before the new privacy changes took place. Is it still possible to clear search history? Will it have the same effect as before?
"Absolutely. Web History, which is a record of your signed-in searches, works the same way today as it did yesterday. You can edit, delete and turn off your Web History if you don’t want your searches to be associated with your Google Account."
4. When will I start to notice the results of the policy changes?
"In the coming weeks. We don’t have any specific features to announce right now, but over time we’ll be able to improve our products in ways that help our users get the most from the web."